I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telescopic sights for long guns such as rifles or the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to accessory camera systems adapted to capture images through hunting scopes.
II. Description of the Prior Art
It has long been recognized by those skilled in the art that telescopic sites offer considerable, well recognized advantages to hunters and marksman. Typically such scopes are securely mounted atop a rifle, and they provide a telescopic image of a target within a viewing area. Simple scopes include objective and eyepiece lenses positioned at the ends of an elongated, tubular body. These lenses maintain the sealed integrity of the unit. Often scope magnification is user selectable, but many older scopes are fixed in magnification or power. Various forms of adjustable cross-hairs or aiming indicia are visible through the scope within the field of view, facilitating proper aiming. Scopes must be “sighted in” and most are capable of precision windage and elevation adjustments. Rifle scopes are typically mounted on firearms such that a precise relationship is established between the bore of the rifle barrel and the shooter's line of sight through the rifle scope. The goal is generally to have the point of aim for the scope match the point of impact for a particular type of ammunition at a known distance from the shooter.
Modern precision optical instruments include precision, high quality optics, and “bright” scopes provide an extremely high resolution view of the target area, even in low light conditions. Illuminated reticles or cross hairs have further enhanced scope usefulness during low-light periods such as dawn and dusk.
As scopes have improved in optics, brightness, adjustability and reliability, it is only natural that riflemen would seek to use them with cameras. Accordingly, a variety of devices for interfacing a camera or video system with a rifle scope have been proposed.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,451 discloses a telescopic gun sight with a removable camera enabling an object to be photographed through the telescope. A beam splitter separates some of the light traveling along the axis of the scope and diverts it towards a collimator and a window in the wall of the telescope. The collimator provides parallel rays from this diverted light so that the camera attached to the mount can be a fixed focal-length.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,095 discloses a mounting device for securing a camera to a hunting rifle. The device comprises a first mounting bracket adapted to support a camera, a fastener to detachably secure a camera to the first bracket, a variable diameter clamp to clamp the first mounting bracket to the barrel of the telescope sight of a rifle, a cable release for remote actuation of the camera, a second mounting bracket connected to the cable release, and threaded fasteners for detachably securing the second mounting bracket to the trigger guard of a rifle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,219 discloses a rifle having a telescopic sight for recording the target as seen through the telescopic sight at the instant the trigger is pulled. The apparatus includes a beam splitter for directing to a camera some of the light passing through the telescopic sight. The shutter mechanism of the camera is coupled to the rifle trigger so that the camera will “shoot” the picture of the target when the trigger is pulled. The camera is of the instant-copy type so that pictures of the target can be viewed shortly after “shooting”. The apparatus thus enables the ability of a rifleman to be tested without the need for firing live ammunition.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,262 discloses a camera mount for use on a telescope in combination with a rifle. The mount is clamped onto the telescope, and has a camera attached to the top of the mount. A cable mechanism is attached at one end to the shutter release of the camera and at the other end to the trigger of the rifle. The camera is arranged to photograph the image received through the telescope and reflected through the mount. The cable mechanism provides means for controlling the operation of the camera. The viewfinder when the video camera recorder is recording video information on the recording medium.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,614 issued Feb. 27, 2001 discloses a video camera and mounting system for a firearm, such as a rifle or a shotgun, to video a target. A video mounting assembly incorporates a shock absorbing mechanism to protect the video camera against the recoil of the firearm, and a pivotally mounted platform to finely adjust the video camera toward the target.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,813,025 issued Nov. 2, 2004 provides a viewing scope adapted to be mounted on a rifle. The scope includes a body module, an objective module, a test module, and a control module. The test module may be configured to test the performance of the scope. The control module may include a series of user inputs that can be accessed and activated by a user without requiring the user to move his or her visual focus from the scope.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,437,848 issued Oct. 21, 2008 discloses a compound firearm aiming and photographing apparatus. A digital sight is disposed on a firearm body and includes an image processing module and a receiver electrically connected thereto. A remote-control transmitter is connected to the firearm body, emitting a signal monitored by a receiver that actuates an image processing module.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,045,038 issued Oct. 25, 2011 discloses camera for mounting to a weapon including a housing, a camera lens, a video recorder, a cover, and a mounting rail. The camera lens is located at a front end of the housing. The video recorder is located within the housing for recording images captured by the camera lens. The cover is coupled to a rear end of the housing for accessing components located within the housing and the mounting rail extends along an exterior surface of the housing and mounts the camera to the weapon.
U.S. Pat. Publication No. 2013/0097912 published Apr. 25, 2013 discloses a viewing apparatus for a rifle scope that comprises a camera and means for attaching the camera to a rifle scope such that the camera is exposed to an image visible at an eyepiece of a rifle scope. The camera is adapted to generate data from the image to which it is exposed, and transfers image data from the camera to a display unit. An attachment means mounts the display unit to a rifle scope.
U.S. Pat. Publication No. 2013/0188053 discloses an electronic system and method for a gun-mounted camera. A digital zoom maintains a native pixel count by with a special sensor. Processing includes decimating an image for low magnification and windowing the image for higher magnification.
U.S. Pat. Publication No. 2013/0286216 published Oct. 31, 2013 discloses a rifle scope including a circuit for tracking a target. The device comprises at least one optical sensor capturing a video of a view area, a display, a processor coupled to the display and to the optical sensor, and a memory accessible to the processor. The memory stores instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to receive user input that identifies a target within the video, apply a visual tag to the target within the video, and adjust the visual tag to track the target within a sequence of frames. The memory further stores instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to provide the video including the visual tag to the display.
U.S. Pat. Publication No. 2013/0286239 printed Oct. 31, 2013 discloses a rifle scope including a display, at least one optical sensor to capture video of a view area, and image processing circuitry coupled to the display and the at least one optical sensor. The image processing circuitry is configured to select visual elements within a sequence of frames of the video and to align the visual elements within adjacent frames of the sequence of frames to produce a video output corresponding to the view area that is stabilized relative to a target. The image processing circuit is configured to provide the video output to the display.
Nevertheless there has not been a highly adaptable portable converter or adapter for use with optical telescopic sights that generates and transmits optical scope images to remote locations, while concurrently allowing the hunter or user to view potential targets though the scope without interference from the camera apparatus.